Blogging is a powerful tool and an amazing way to connect with other people online. Running a blog is a lot of hard work, and you should be proud!
But do you ever hesitate to tell the people you meet face-to-face that you’re a blogger?
It’s understandable. Even though there are millions of blogs in existence today, both personal and commercial, bloggers are still beset by negative stereotypes.
While you should be proud to proclaim you’re a blogger, sometimes it’s easier to avoid the controversy and explain your passion in a different way.
What if you could introduce yourself as an author?
The reality is, you’ve probably written enough to be an author. How many thousands of words are sitting on your blog right now?
You’ve already written the words; all that remains is to put it together and publish it – which isn’t as much work as it sounds if you’re using the right tools.
And your new ebook can be an amazing tool for your blog. You can use your book to:
- Monetize your blog
- Attract subscribers to your email newsletter
- Reach a new readership and grow your blog’s audience
- Boost your reputation as a published author in your niche
Ready to become an author in just a few easy steps? Here’s how.
Step 1: Plan your book
Of course, blogs work a little differently than books. On your blog, you can write about any topic you want within your niche. Like a new episode of a TV show, every week begins anew.
But a book is more like a movie. It needs a structure, a narrative: a beginning, a middle, and an end.
Just publishing all your blog posts directly into book form won’t result in a coherent book. You’ll need to do a little planning first.
Choosing your blog posts
Which blog posts will make the cut?
You’ll need to choose posts that can be linked together with some kind of shared theme, such as:
- Posts only from a specific category or tag.
- A series you previously wrote.
- Your most popular posts.
When it comes to choosing your posts, think about how you’ll structure your book. You might consider arranging it:
- As a narrative: choose posts that tell a story from beginning to end.
- As a tutorial, with each post a step in the process.
- As a guide or primer, going from beginner to advanced.
Editing and expanding
It’s a good idea to give your posts a final edit and polish before you publish. You might even hire a second set of eyes just to make sure everything is cohesive and grammatically correct. Small errors are much more forgivable in a blog post than in a published book, especially if you plan to sell it instead of giving it away.
You might also consider adding bonus content that’s not available on your blog, such as worksheets, templates, a glossary, recommended resources, etc.
And to complete your book, you’ll need:
- A cover (you can quickly create a nice-looking cover using Canva)
- An introduction: briefly introduce yourself & explain what the book is about
- A conclusion with a call to action*
*Depending on your goals for your book, you may want to take a moment at the end to thank your readers and ask them to write a review, subscribe to your email newsletter, visit your website and hire you, etc.
Step 2: Choose a tool
There are a lot of great tools out there that will automatically put together an ebook for you from your blog posts, so you don’t have to fuss with formatting and editing.
(And, as someone who put together my own e-book from blog posts manually, let me say that formatting e-books is a huge pain and takes way more time than you might think – probably as much time as the actual writing and editing, if not more.)
Here are two of the most popular tools out there, one premium and one free.
PressBooks
PressBooks is an awesome tool that takes your blog posts and lets you convert them into print-ready files or as an e-book formatted for Amazon Kindle, Apple iBooks, Nook, Kobo, Google Play, and more.
You can input your blog posts by copying and pasting the text, but they also have a tool built just for WordPress. Just export the files you want by using WordPress’s built-in export tool (under Tools > Export), and then upload the resulting XML file into PressBooks.
Unfortunately, WordPress’s Export tool is a bit limited in that you can’t pick and choose specific posts. You can only sort by whole category, author, publication date range, or post status.
But the cool thing about PressBook’s dashboard is that it’s built using WordPress software, so the interface is easy and intuitive for WordPress users. You can easily remove or add chapters just like you would delete or create new posts in WordPress.
Once you’ve finished editing your book, just go to Appearance > Themes to choose your book’s look. You’ll find tons of beautiful, professionally-designed themes to choose from.
After you choose your theme, click on Export and choose your file options. There’s a free version, but it plasters your book with ads and watermarks. You’ll want to upgrade to the paid version for a more professional appearance.
You can now upload your book to whatever distributor you want (more on that below).
Price: Starting at $19 per book
Anthologize
Anthologize is a free WordPress plugin that will quickly and easily transform your blog into a simple, no-frills ebook.
After installing the plugin to your blog, click Anthologize > New Project and name your book. It will now be listed under Anthologize > My Projects.
Click on “Manage Parts” to begin adding posts and pages to your book, or click the “New Part” button to add original content, such as your introduction and conclusion. Click “Export Project” when you’re done.
You can choose a few different basic formatting options, such as serif or sans-serif font, and font size, but that’s about it.
Your book can be exported as a PDF, ePub, TEI, or RTF file.
Step 3: Distribute your ebook
On your website
On your website, you can use your book as a freebie to get newsletter signups, or even sell it using a service like E-junkie.
Some bloggers find that they’re able to set a much higher price point if they sell the book on their site exclusively.
On the other hand, you’ll only reach visitors on your own website, instead of distributing it to a wider audience.
Keeping your book on your website only is a good option if your main goal is to bait your email list, or if you’re trying to monetize an established blog with substantial traffic.
Amazon
Unlike selling your book exclusively on your website, you won’t be able to list it for a very high price on Amazon if you want to sell a lot of copies. Kindle users are used to cheaply priced books, so they won’t be very likely to buy an expensive one unless they’re already familiar with the author.
Amazon is a great option if you’re looking to build your blog audience with your book. Just don’t forget to include a call to action at the end so people will visit your website.
Smashwords
Smashwords is a great place to upload your book because they’ll distribute it for you to Apple, Barnes & Noble, and many other booksellers. You can also list your book free here in order to “trick” Amazon into price matching and listing it for free.
Conclusion
Congratulations, you’re now officially a published author!
Have you published your own ebook from your blog posts? How did you format it, and where did you distribute it? What challenges did you face? Share your experiences and tips in the comments.
The post How To Create An Ebook From Your Blog Archives appeared first on WP Superstars.